The Serpentine Gambit

Chapter 1 - Capture

POV: Cyber

Location: The Guards' Main Base Prison Cell 23

The room was dark, damp, and musty. It reeks of piss and rust. The air was still, damp, and dingy. Not much else was in the cell with me besides a table and a singular chair. Not that those were of any use to me, as I am currently chained to the wall by my wrists. The cell door creaks open, letting out a singular strand of light. The heavy, oppressive sounds of footsteps can be heard walking into the cell. The chair is dragged towards me.

"Ahem," says the guard on duty.

I crack my eyes open slightly, looking directly at him. Great, Mr. Grabby Hands again. Here we go again, I think to myself. He hasn't let up yet.

"Look, Girly, you can either tell me what I want, or we go back to the alternative methods." His voice sounds bleak, with very little emotion. I look at him in the eyes and can't help but bust a laugh at him. The laughter rings through the cell, cackling back at him and me like a haunting opera of horrors.

He grabs my head and slams it into the wall. Once. Twice. Thrice. My head is spinning, seeing stars, but I keep laughing. After all, Mr. Grabby Hands has a temper. He doesn't last long if I toy with him enough. The procedure is always the same. Tell me what I want, I laugh, he loses his shit after a bit and leaves. This time, though, it's different. I'm not sure what it is, but the cell door opens again. Another man walks in. Tall, black hair, and that mask. Now that's who I've been wanting to talk to.

I look at Mr. Grabby Hands and mock him. "Now, look how hard was it to give me what I want? I told you before Grabby Hands, I'll only talk to Ballistic. Not you. Now scram." He lets out a growl of anger at me and goes to smash my head into the wall again.

"Enough, Bishop," a deep, harsh voice says. Clearly from the man who just entered the room. He drags the chair over to me and puts the back facing me. He lounges in the chair, his right hand resting his head. "Clearly, this one's a tougher nut to crack. I'll handle it; now leave." Mr. Grabby Hands, or should I say Bishop, looks over at him annoyed but leaves.

"Now that he's gone. What is your name?" His tone doesn't waver from that emotionless tone earlier. Looking at him, he is sort of handsome in an annoying way. Black hair swept to the left side of his face, but buzzed along the edges. His eyes glow a vivid green. His mask is that of a black dragon with green outlines, covering the rest of his face, leaving only his eyes visible.

"Depends," I whisper to him, seeing if I can bait a reaction out of him too. Sure, I may need to convey a message to the Reckoners, but can they be trusted is yet to stand.

"Answer the damn question. None of this 'it depends' or whatever you want it to be. Clearly, you're here for a reason, as we have not captured a living Brigade in years. Now, name." He says with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Cyber," I say to him flatly, already going for that annoying factor.

He rolls his eyes. "Your real name. Not a codename or whatever bullshit the Brigade does." Oh, another hint of anger, and I swear his left eye twitches slightly.

"Cyber. Harpie. Widow. Aurora. Etc. Etc. The point is I go by too many names to remember them all. So let's just go with Cyber this time, okay?" I add a little snarky pop at the end to get my point across. He gets up from his chair and walks over slowly, like a predator stalking its prey. My heart stutters in fear slightly; his eyes hold a coldness to them that not many have. He grabs my face in his left hand and squeezes it slightly. "Very well, Cyber." The stressor on my name is slightly off-putting, a tone of hatred in it. "Why did you let yourself get captured?" I look at him confused. "Don't play coy with me. No one in the Brigade has been captured alive in years. Usually, one of their assassins gets to our prisoner first. But you. You're still alive. Which means either you're one of the assassins or they don't know you've been caught. So which one is Cyber?" He looks at me with full of hatred in his eyes.

I try to look away from him, but he pulls my face right back into maintaining eye contact with him. I let out a raspy breath and think of what to say. Treading lightly is the best course of action here; otherwise, it could mean my end. My heart is beating fast. I close my eyes and breathe. Opening them, I look at him and say, "The second one. They don't know I've slipped away. The boss thinks I'm scouting out your base." I'm lying through my teeth, and I hope he doesn't catch on.

"Alright. Acceptable for now." I try to keep my face clear of the dumbfounded expression that I am wearing. He actually bought that. "Now, why did you let yourself get caught? I know for a fact that getting caught means losing your life. So squeal."

I quirk my eyebrow at him. "Squeal? Tsk. I was going to give you the lowdown on a couple of hideouts around here to mess with the Brigade's supply routes, but now you're kind of pissing me off." He lets go of my face and swiftly punches me in the gut. I cringe inwards a bit and groan in pain. After a few seconds, I regain my composure.

"Yes, you're gonna squeal, or I'll parade you around base and let everyone from here to kingdom come know that you got caught. We'll see how long you last." He threatens me.

"Good one. Expect, I'll be dead, and you won't ever get another informant for what... three... no, four years?" I scold him with a snarky tone. He knows I'm right. I know I'm right, so let's see if he falls into my hands.

He barks out a laugh, cruel and frustrated. "Please, we've caught one now. Means times are changing. I suppose soon we'll even have the Viper back among the proper crowd."

I look at him confused. "The proper crowd? You mean those that look like humans. Those who don't have freakish abilities or pesky side-effects to their powers. All the Guards do is throw the misfits out to die or disappear into the void. How is that proper? At least the Brigade welcomes all who follow the Goddess' code." The anger in my voice carries out. I can feel my form trying to change to match my anger. I close my eyes for a second and breathe, settling back into the form I am in, hoping he doesn't notice the internal fight I was having.

He scoffs at me. "Please, the Guard would never do that. We accept all, even those who cannot blend into Mortal society with ease. Now, Cyber, why are you here? What are you planning?"

"I want to end the war." I look up at him, the determination in my voice seeping into my facial expression.